Wii+Rafting

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code Minh Tam Chau and Teresa Richards || Players will sit on the Wii board as they paddle their way through each river. ||
 * || =Wii Rafting=

Overview
Wii Fit Rafting allows players to paddle quickly down a river avoiding obstacles along the way. Using the Wii remote to paddle and the Wii fit board to balance, players will change the side on which they paddle depending on which direction they want to go. There will be obstacles such as tree branches, stumps, rocks, poles, balls, beavers and rapids. While navigating down the river, players will gain valuable information about United States geography. There will be clues on the way to their destination that they will collect to help answer questions at the end of the level. There are 20 different rivers from which players can choose and players will learn as they make their way to the end.

Obesity is becoming more and more of a problem and Wii Fit Rafting helps stop young people from being couch potatoes and encourages them to get physical! Children will be enticed to stay inside and play a fun and physical video game with excitement, education, mystery and challenge!

Instructional Objective
By playing Wii Rafting, players will be able to do the following:
 * Identify the names of major rivers in the United States.
 * Explain how physical environments such as water, landforms, vegetation and climate affect human activity.
 * Demonstrate an understanding of the geographic features that define specific rivers.

The game is designed for male and female students ages 6-18 in elementary, middle and high school. While some students will have had United States History in the 4th, 8th and 11th grades, this game will serve as a reinforcement of what a child knows about geography and rivers specifically, and it will also serve as an introduction for those students who do not know much about United States geography. While the instructional objective in to reinforce or introduce what students are learning about United Stated geography, an adult audience will enjoy the game because much of the game is information that they should already know. In addition, the elements of pressure under time, chance, physical ability and intrinsic motivation to win, are all elements that any age group can enjoy.

Context of Use
This game is designed for school and for home. At school, teachers can use this game to review Geography. Teachers will formally teach students how to play in class so students will have an idea of how to play the game. Early finishers can also play this game to brush up on Social Science. Students are allowed to play more than once based on time at the teacher's discretion. Up to four students can play this this Wii Fit Rafting game and it will take about 10-15 minutes to play each game. The game can also be used in a physical education class where getting outside or actually rafting is difficult due to inclement weather. After playing the game, students can study areas of weakness so they can maneuver better the next time. With 20 rivers and a multitude of outcomes, this game can be played repeatedly.

If the game is played at home, a parent or and older teen can follow the directions and explain/demonstrate how to play. It is fairly simple and there will be a training mode for beginners. Playing the game at home is a great way for children to be physical while keeping them engaged.

Scope
This game will include a training mode for beginnings and introduce the game and basic uses of the Wii remote and paddle. The introductory activity will allow a player to choose from two different rivers before making his or her way down and encountering obstacles along the way. There will be 3 different levels in the actual game from which a player can start. This game will take about 15-60 minutes to play depending on how competitive the players are. There will be about five "tunnels" that the player has to pass through by answering questions correctly as they come to each stop.

Object of the Game
The goal of the game is to make it to the end of the river by answering questions correctly. Players will try to hit each clues on the way by paddling as fast as they can to the left or to the right to collect them.

Competing Products
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge for Wii Active Life: Outdoor Challenge introduces the Active Life mat, a durable peripheral that lets players control the on-screen action with their hands and feet when used in conjunction with a Wii Remote. The Active Life mat supports and encourages vigorous activities such as running and jumping, allowing for an energizing game experience. From kayaking to mine cart adventures and obstacle-filled races, players will be able to use a variety of hand gestures and foot movements across the Active Life mat's eight sensor inputs to control each event. Many of the game's events can be enjoyed in head-to-head or cooperative multiplayer modes with a single mat, letting players enjoy the rush of competition or the gratification of teamwork as they play together. [|TGS 07 River Rafting Wii]

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[|White Water Rafting - an arcade game at Dave and Buster's] - One or two players would sit on a raft and with one paddle they will paddle through tunnels and different obstacles. ======

[|White Water-Domo] Domo is the main character who is racing down the river rapids with his kayak. He has to jump, paddle and steer through dangerous rapids to cross the finish line as fast as he can.

Design Details
//Universal Elements// __The illustrations:__ The overall look and feel of the game will look similar to the [|Wii Fit] games. The main color of the game will be blue since the game takes place on different rivers. The overall design of the game will have pastel colors all around. __The sound:__ The background music will be pop/dance songs. The theme song for this game is by Daniel Beddingfield "[|Gotta Get Through This]." While paddling through the river, players will be motivated to paddle faster as they listen to pop/dance music.

__Characters:__ Players will choose their own characters by selecting the following:
 * //**Students**//: nerdy, cool, smart, athlete, hyper, skater boy/girl
 * **//Janitors//**: man with a beard, woman with a broom
 * **Teachers**: man in a suit, woman with glasses
 * **//Holiday characters//**: Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Columbus, Dragon, Fourth of July man with a flag, a man holding a new year hat, Cupid, Witch, Bear.
 * **//Sporty characters//**: football player, tennis player, baseball player, basketball player, bowler.
 * **Design your own characters** by selecting gender, hair/eyes colors, height, outfits, job title, your name.

This game will have the new and improved graphics and can display excellent cartoonish three-dimentional rivers, characters and obstacles. The remote control will rumble as the raft hits the obstacles or hits the clues on the way.

__The Rules__:
 * Player will paddle down the rapid river collecting clues to answer the question at the end of the river.
 * Player cannot hit the obstacles or they will lose their clues or their lifeline if they don't have any clues.
 * Player need to hit and save as many clues as they can to help them at the end of the course.
 * Player can play with multiplayers, single player or with vesus mode.

__Overall map of the river:__

__Role of the Player:__ Players can choose from three different modes: novice, expert or insane. Each mode comes with full instructions on how to play. Player will paddle through a river, collecting clues and dodging obstacles. At the end of each river, player will be prompted with a question in which the player will then use the collected clues answer the question correctly. If the answer is correct, they will move up to a more difficult river with more complicated paths, obstacles and question at the end. If players fail to answer the question correctly or their raft has flipped on the way, the game is over and they have a chance to retry.

__Overall Goals:__ The goals of the players is to collect as many clues as possible to answer the question at the end of each course. The correct answer will allow players to advance to the next level.

__Obstacles and Challenges:__ The river will be very windy with obstacles that you can bump into and fall off the raft. Players have to steer away or dodge obstacles moving toward the raft. Caution: some obstacles will cause the raft to flip over and will cause players to lose a turn. Players will have a total of three lifelines that they will use to pass through all 20 rivers.The obstacles that will hinder their advances are tree, branches, stumps, rocks, beavers and rapids.

__Rewards/Prizes:__ Each time that the player advances to a new level, he or she will unlock more powerful rafts and faster paddles.

__Scoring:__ The scoring will be based on how many rivers passed, clues collected and obstacles dodged at the end of the course. For every 30 consecutive clues that the player collect, the player's lifeline will increase one lifeline. For every 20 consecutive obstacles that the player dodged, the player will receive an extra clue for that course. For every 4 successful answers to each question at the end, the players will increase one lifeline. The players are ranked based on how many questions they answered correctly, how many clues collected, and how many obstacles they have successfully avoided.



__Sample River Game Questions:__ 1. Approximately how many rivers are there in the United States greater than 25 miles in length? 2. What is the longest river in the United States? 3. Which river carries the most water? 4. What is the longest river in the United States? 5. The deepest canyon in North America is formed by what river? 6. Which United States river separates Texas from Mexico? 7. Which river is called the "River of No Return"? 8. Which river is most responsible for forming the Chesapeake Bay? 9. Which river was the first English settlement along? 10.During the Revolutionary War, the "Shot Heard 'Round The World" was fired over which river?

Technical Elements
 * Software: [|WiiWare]

WiiWare is the software required to author the game for the Wii. The main graphics will be in jpg and the sounds will be in mp3. The game will not accommodate other platforms. The game can be saved on the Wii harddrive or on a USB thumbdrive. Players can also save their game on a thumbdrive. The Wii Raft can be connected to the internet where players can compete with each other and also post and update player's scores.

Motivational Issues
Malone and Lepper explain that intrinsic motivation falls into two categories: 1) Individual intrinsic motivators such as curiosity, challenge, control and fantasy and 2) Interpersonal intrinsic motivators such as cooperation, competition and recognition. Wii Fit Rafting addresses several of these motivational needs.

Challenge - The challenge in this game comes from players being able to play to game again and again, but because of the chance involved, the obstacles which a player may encounter changes from game to game. There is no way to master this game because there are too may options. In addition, the content itself is challenging. While a player may be familiar with the geography in his or her local area or state, many players will not know the geography of the rest of the country, specifically its' rivers. Aside from the mental challenge, players will also challenge themselves physically by working on balance and abdominal muscles.

Control - Essentially, players are in charge of their own learning in Wii Rafting. They have to remember clues, answer challenge questions to gain access to tunnels //and// they have to physical be able to hold certain positions to remain well-seated in their raft.

Fantasy - Many children live in parts of the country where physical activity of rafting is not an option because of their geographic location or be because of inclement weather. Wii Fit Rafting allows players to "experience" rafting on a river and the excitement that accompanies it.

Competition - This game is very competitive. Players not only have to paddle their way through obstacles as fast as they can, but they have to remember all the clues on the way to their destination. Before arriving to their destination, which is at the end of each level, players have to use the clues that they gather to figure out the correct answer to the question in order to exit the level. Players can compete against their own time and a list of the top 5 times can be displayed with the players' names at the end of each game.

Recognition - Whether this game is played in the classroom or at home, a player receives recognition by being the fastest, that is, navigating the river in the shortest amount of time will make a player the reining champion--//the// Wii Fit Rafting King or Queen.

__Design Process__
Our team's first thoughts were that we wanted to create a Wii Fit game because of the obesity with many young adults today. We had many ideas for games: ice-skating, mountain climbing and hiking were among them. We then thought of ways that each of the games could be educational for students. This was the challenging part. Our team enhanced its' ideas by asking Teresa Richards' high school students what kind of Wii Fit game they would like to see and what would the objective be. The ideas our team considered and rejected were many of the games that are already in existence, but our team didn't know existed.

We gathered background information by creating search terms that helped us locate other Wii Fitness games to see the object and capability of those games. We went through many of the Wii sport games that are already out in the stores. The only game that we couldn't find in the stores or online is a rafting game. One of our teammates had played a rafting game at Dave and Busters and thought it was a very fun and active game.

To see if there were similar games out there we we searched for rafting games on the internet. Apparently there is one that is in the process of being created, but none have hit the market yet. To get feedback on the idea we asked colleagues in a peer review that we held in class.

We learned several things from this that our team will carry to our next project. The first thing we learned is how difficult it is to create an educational game. The rafting part wasn't a difficult concept, but when its coupled with an educational component, it is difficult to create without relying on mere trivia.

__References__
Books & Journals Electronic
 * Farr, J., Malone, T., Lepper, M. (2001). __Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning__. In R.E. Snow (ed). Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction (pp. 223-253). Philadelphia: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
 * [|Best Wii Fit Games for Kids]
 * [|Wii Fit Athletic World]
 * [|California Social Science Standards]

Website
 * [|WiiWare]

Graphics:
 * [|Wii-Water Domo DS game]

River Questionaires:
 * [|National Wild and Scenic Rivers Quiz]